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Millennials are streaming to the front of a classroom near you. How can school leaders harness their traits to improve schools as workplaces?  

 

While much is known about teacher hiring and retention, less has been published about the induction and retention of the millennial generation of teachers. Teachers between ages 22 and 36 are millennials — from the generation born between 1980 and 1994. If we overlay what we know about the work of teachers across knowledge from the literature about the millennial generation, what comparisons can we make? What may be different about supporting and motivating millennial teachers for their work? How might employers tap in to that knowledge base in hiring, managing, and keeping millennial employees to improve the quality of teaching faculties in K-12 schools? 

Background 

Teacher retention begins with sound hiring practice. Hiring must be planned and systematic to be effective; job interview questions should be used to determine candidates’ previous expertise, experience, and performance. Such behavior-based interviewing lends itself to quality hiring because it’s guided by the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance (Clement, 2015). 

Assuming the right hires are made, induction still has a tremendous effect on teacher satisfaction and retention. Ingersoll found “a link between beginning teachers’ participation in induction programs and their retention” (2012, p. 50). His work also showed that, “Collectively, getting multiple induction components had a strong effect on whether beginning teachers stayed or left” (p. 50).  

Induction alone doesn’t stem the tide of teacher attrition. As Darling-Hammond said, “Teachers want to be in environments where they are going to be successful with students, where they’re getting help to do that, where they have good colleagues, where they’re working as a team” (Scherer, 2012). When teachers do not find such environments, attrition rates increase, and high attrition is costly in many respects. Brill and McCartney (2008) view the costs of teacher attrition in terms of money and its effect on the school and students. “Constant changes in the staff interrupt the planning and implementation of a coherent, comprehensive, and unified curriculum” (p. 753).  

What are some trends in teacher hiring and retention? Ingersoll, Merrill, and Stuckey (2014) indicate that the teaching force is increasingly “greener” and that “Early attrition has increased among this growing number of beginners” (p. 13). A less stable teaching force, with even less stability in high-poverty schools, may keep the attrition rates of new teachers in the first five years near the 40% to 50% range characterized in recent research (Ingersoll, Merrill, & Stuckey, 2014). 

Millennials 

This greener teaching force includes millennials. Generational research has been in vogue for some time as researchers strive to describe attributes of people born in certain decades without stereotyping. Readers probably know if they are baby boomers (born 1946-1964), generation Xers (born 1965-1979), or are themselves millennials. The exact years for each generation can vary, based on the research of different authors but are similar across publications. Some of the first literature on millennials centered on their entrance into college, with books like Jean Twenge’s Generation Me (Free Press, 2006), which college professors read to understand their students. Twenge told readers that millennials are entitled and that they all have received trophies for anything in which they participated. Arthur Levine and Diane Dean (2012) added to the literature with their book, Generation on a Tightrope (Jossey-Bass, 2012), describing millennials as the busiest of generations in college and as striving to find their balance.  

As millennials grew up, literature emerged on how to hire, manage, and retain them in the workplace. According to Sujansky and Ferri-Reed (2009), the millennial generation seeks: 

  1. Work-life balance;
  2. Career paths that include quick promotions and growth; 
  3. The latest technology; 
  4. Quick, positive feedback; 
  5. A “cool” corporate culture; 
  6.  To be appreciated; 
  7. To be challenged; 
  8. To be mentored; 
  9. To receive advancements;  
  10. To work in positive environments; 
  11. To have fun at work; and  
  12. To learn in short, hands-on, real situations. 

Sujansky and Ferri-Reed (2009) concluded that managers need to learn the most effective methods of giving feedback to millennials and to help them make corrections without demotivating them. In other words, if not given frequent, positive, and effective coaching, they may leave when the work gets tough, and we know that teaching is tough. Many in this generation do not plan on doing the same job for years — an issue when a teacher becomes embedded and expert in a certain grade level or discipline. The lack of career ladders for teachers is an ongoing issue. 

If not given frequent, positive, and effective coaching, they may leave when the work gets tough, and we know that teaching is tough. 

Espinoza, Ukleja, & Rusch (2010) discuss the managerial issues of having managers from an older generation, like X’ers or boomers, directing the work of the millennials. They noted “a growing frustration among managers and business leaders with integrating younger workers into their organizations” and that millennial employees “appear distinctly different from their vocational forerunners. . . undermining norms that have supported the workplace for decades” (xiii-xiv). Two quotes from the research of Espinoza, Ukleja, and Rusch may be indicative of the millennial mindset: “We want to have a say about how we do our work,” and “We want you to give us direction, and then get out of our way” (p. 10). It may be very discomforting for millennial teachers to reconcile their work with the current education reform movement that places a premium on preordained standards and accountability. Yet, as Espinoza and colleagues point out, the vitality of the American schoolhouse depends on the education establishment’s ability to work with millennials.  

Howe and Strauss (2008), generational researchers and historians, looked at millennials as the next generation of teachers and defined five attitudes and behaviors of the group: 

  1. They expect to be treated as VIPs. 
  2. They assume they are protected. 
  3. They have long-term goals. 
  4. They thrive with structure and feedback. 
  5. They work best in teams and want to help their community.  

 While desiring to help a community and having long-term goals for their work are commendable attributes for new teachers, other millennial attitudes may require some rethinking of normative aspects of the school as a workplace. New teachers are generally not treated as VIPs in their hiring or induction, and while collaboration is highly touted in education literature, too often teaching has remained a very isolated job for individuals in their classrooms.  

Using millennials’ potential 

It may behoove educational leaders simply to be aware of the generational research on employees and the trends in schools. Each generation of teachers has its own demographic features and identity, and each generation encounters schools differently than the ones they attended. Susan Moore Johnson wrote that millennials in the classroom “are entering teaching in a context very different than from the previous generation’s. . . . In addition, today’s new teachers are encountering unprecedented demands on schools and teachers” (2004, p. 7).  

Ways to respond to the millennials’ attributes include putting the woo factor into hiring practices. 

Ways to respond to the millennials’ attributes include putting the woo factor into hiring practices. Ensure that new hires feel special. Reduce the time between a  job posting and when interviews begin.  Communicate timelines to applicants so they receive some feedback throughout the hiring process. In the job search process, millennial candidates expect to hear that their application arrived, was complete, and is under consideration. With automated systems, emails can be sent easily to candidates.  

Once hired, new teachers seek communication between the date of hiring and their orientation. Personalized communication can be best. Having a mentor or other veteran teacher correspond via email with the new teacher can provide such personalized contact.  

Behaviors that may have been considered brazen from previous generations of teachers may be standard for millennials. These new teachers will ask “why” in the middle of orientation sessions and faculty meetings. They want to know the rationale for what’s being done. They want to know why they are asked to do things that could be done by support staff or a computerized system. Millennial teachers want to improve the workplace NOW, and they want recognition for doing so — not to be told to “wait until tenure.” They seek to do their work on their time frame and with their technology. Being told that they must remain in the building to prepare for their classes after students leave may seem unfathomable to them when they can make lesson plans on their tablets at Starbucks. Again, explaining the rationale for practices from the beginning promotes understanding and compliance.  

Induction for millennials 

Virtually all professors of teacher education exhort future teachers to know students and to differentiate instruction to meet student needs. So, too, should school administrators get to know their new hires and provide professional development opportunities to meet individual needs. Induction is an umbrella term for the professional development of new teachers, and the induction of millennial hires may need to be different. Mentoring should be a component of induction, but mentors need training in how to support new hires and time to work with them.  

Book study groups, discussion groups, and ongoing seminars, and workshops for new teachers can provide wonderful support. These groups are not just for the first year but should continue over two to three years. Most important, plan for the new teachers themselves to lead some of their own induction groups, as this provides the specialness and leadership roles they seek early in their careers.  

Supervision and evaluation of new teachers is critically important to their growth. Today’s new hires want quick, positive feedback and will be very concerned if they don’t get it. Not only should the district’s traditional supervision be in place, but administrators can consider planned observations of new hires by other teachers for nonevaluative, supportive purposes. Working in groups appeals to millennial employees, and creating a culture where colleagues observe each other for support and ideas is very positive. Pairing millennials specifically with other, slightly more experienced millennials may be a strategy to employ for such observations.  

Induction should be just a start of helping teachers succeed and remain in the profession. As Howe and Strauss wrote, “Schools should position themselves as durable partners in achieving young teachers’ career aspirations” (2008, p. 107). After induction, professional development opportunities must exist to tap the potential of all teachers, to sustain their enthusiasm, and to reward their work. The steps discussed in this article not only help to retain newly hired millennial teachers but improve the workplace for all teachers.  

If, as Pollack wrote, “By 2020, milllennials . . . are projected to make up a full 50% of the entire U.S. workforce” (2014, p. 6), then school as a workplace for teachers has to change with the generation of teachers working there. Technology, positive support, collaboration, and room for personal growth must have a place in the teachers’ workplace for their retention. Joel Stein called millennials the “me, me, me generation,” yet also said that they may save us all (2013).   

Takeaways and common sense 

A first-year teacher recently told me that when she approached her principal with an issue, she was told to simply “suck it up.” Six weeks into her first job, this 22-year-old millennial is job searching — in education and other fields. Knowing what we know about millennial teachers, this new hire needed a supportive mentor to answer her questions, and she needed a principal who understood that the new hire sought feedback and positive reinforcement for the work she was doing, and she needed it frequently. If her needs are not met, she will leave that school, and maybe the teaching profession, which is a waste for a fully certified teacher who graduated from a reputable program. The basic supports for new teacher retention must be in place for all new hires. 

Harris (2015) listed these supports as “comprehensive induction programs, supportive administrators, skilled mentors, and helpful colleagues” (p. 7). Additionally, all educators need to be aware of the concept of generational studies and how those studies may inform hiring and induction practices. Millennial is an abstract term, but, by summarizing the research on this generation, we can compare what has been learned about them in general to what we already know about new teachers. We can speculate about support mechanisms and define implications for best practice. In common sense vocabulary, educators can woo candidates when hiring, design reasonable work assignments, promote some joy and fun in the workplace, and provide thoughtful, positive systems of feedback and support. I am not a millennial, but everything I have read about the expectations of this generation of workers — and teachers — matches my own expectations of how I should be treated in the workplace. Helping newly hired millennial teachers helps all educators, and when educators are supported, their students’ chances for success are improved.

References 

Brill, S. & McCartney, A. (2008). Stopping the revolving door: Increasing teacher retention. Politics & Policy, 36 (5), 750-774.  

Clement, M.C. (2015). 10 steps for hiring effective teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.  

Espinoza, C., Ukleja, M., & Rusch, C. (2010). Managing the millennials. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.  

Harris, B. (2015). Retaining new teachers. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.  

Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2008). Millennials and K-12 schools: Educational strategies for a new generation. Great Falls, VA: LifeCourse Associates.  

Ingersoll, R.M. (2012, May). Beginning teacher induction: What the data tell us. Phi Delta Kappan, 93 (8), 47-51.  

Ingersoll, R.M., Merrill, L., & Stuckey, D. (2014). Seven trends: The transformation of the teaching force. CPRE Report. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, Consortium for Policy Research in Education.  

Johnson, S.M. & The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers. (2004). Finders and keepers: Helping new teachers survive and thrive in our schools. San Francisco, CA: Wiley. 

Pollack, L. (2014). Becoming the boss: New rules for the next generation of leaders. New York, NY: HarperCollins.  

Scherer, M. (2012, May). The challenges of supporting new teachers: Conversation with Linda Darling-Hammond. Educational Leadership, 69 (8), 18-23.  

Stein, J. (2013, May 20). The new greatest generation. Time, 181 (19), 26-34.  

Sujansky, J.G. & Ferri-Reed, J. (2009). Keeping the millennials. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 

 

Citation: Clement, M.C. (2016). How will “Generation me, me, me” work for others’ children? Phi Delta Kappan, 97 (7), 30-34. 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Mary C. Clement

MARY C. CLEMENT  is a professor of teacher education at Berry College, Mount Berry, Ga. She is author of 10 Steps for Hiring Effective Teachers .